Filter elements are known to filter particles or other contaminants from fluid such as air, fuel, coolant, and the like. In general, a large surface area of filter media in the filter element facilitates efficient filtering of the fluid. To provide this large surface area, the filter media is typically pleated. In addition, conventional filter housings are often relatively large. To accommodate such filter housings, the filter housings are often located outside the engine compartment of conventional earth moving equipment.
However, having the filter housing located outside the engine compartment is problematic for a variety of reasons such as, for example, the filter housing must be made more robust, the filter housing may be exposed to a dirtier environment, mounting brackets and conduits between the filter housing and components within the engine compartment are more expensive to manufacture and maintain, and the like. Unfortunately, placing filter housings within the engine compartment may call for non-standard shapes.
In addition, conventional pleated filter media may not adequately filter the wide variety of particulate matter typically found in some work environments. That is, because the pleats are identically formed, they do not vary in size and shape. As such, conventional pleated filters may become clogged when tasked with filtering particles outside the intended range of particle sizes.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved filter to address the problems described above and/or problems posed by other conventional approaches.